Based on a Killingly Town Council vote this week, it is unlikely that a proposed ordinance restricting tobacco use in town parks will pass next month.

A decision to bring the issue to an Oct. 8 public hearing narrowly passed by a 5-4 vote on Tuesday, with council Republicans lining up in lockstep against the plan. Since the ordinance needs six votes to pass, it will not make it past the council if all four members who voted ‘no’ on the hearing again decline to support the plan.

The proposal would limit the use of all tobacco products, including cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, at the majority of town parks, including Owen Bell, Lions Cat Hollow, Water Street and Town Hall Pocket parks. The restriction would also apply to Chase and Hygeia reservoirs, the Danielson Ball Field Complex, the River Trail, 78 Quinebaug Drive and Mason Hill Reserve. Tobacco use would be permitted at Danielson’s Davis Park, except during special events in which more than 50 people are present.

The proposed ordinance also includes a $50 fine for each infraction and designated smoking areas in all parks. Dayville’s Owen Bell Park has posted no-smoking signs, but the restriction is not enforced.

Town Manager Bruce Benway said the impetus for the proposal, which had been approved previously by the town’s Public Safety Commission, was to address public health and fire concerns. At least two fires at town parks have been attributed to discarded cigarettes, officials said.

Town Council Chairman Dennis Alemian, who, along with Jonathan Cesolini, Brian Gosper and Harold Reeves, voted against sending the measure to public hearing, said he isn’t comfortable restricting the legal use of a product by adults.

“The government shouldn’t infringe on the rights of smokers in an open-air environment,” Alemian said. “And I’d be hard-pressed to tell an adult softball player he can’t use chewing tobacco. This isn’t smoking in an enclosed area. It’s in an environment where smoke dissipates. I think you can trust people to be considerate.”

Tonya Durand, who brings her 2-year-old son, Colton, to Owen Bell Park a couple times a month, said she understands both sides of the argument.

“You want to keep the kids away from smoke, but smoking is already banned just about everywhere else,” she said. “People start wondering what else is going to be taken away. But it would nice to not have (cigarrette) butts laying around.”